Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J., Provincial for the New England Province of the Society of Jesus, receives written permission from Bishop Maurice McAuliffe of the Hartford Archdiocese to establish a Jesuit high school and college in the Bridgeport area of Connecticut.
As the United States enters World War II, the Fairfield estate known as Mailands, owned by industry tycoon Oliver Gould Jennings, becomes available for purchase; the Jesuits buy the 76-acre lot for approximately $42,000 to establish their new school.
Rev. John J. McEleney, S.J., formerly Rector of the Shadowbrook novitiate in Massachusetts, is given a new assignment: Head of a soon-to-be established Jesuit educational institution in Fairfield, Connecticut. Father McEleney is considered to be Fairfield University’s first president.
On St. Patrick’s Day, Rev. John J. McEleney and six of his Jesuit brothers officially meet for the first time, creating the Articles of Association and By-Laws for an institutional entity for both high school and college-level education: The Fairfield College of St. Robert Bellarmine. This is the beginning of both Fairfield College Preparatory School and Fairfield University.
The Fairfield estate of Mr. and Mrs. Walter B. Lashar – known as Hearthstone Hall because of its many fireplaces – goes into foreclosure. The Jesuits purchase the 105-acre lot , the mansion and surrounding buildings for approximately $68,500 from the town.
In a public blessing ceremony, Hearthstone Hall is officially rechristened Bellarmine Hall in honor of St. Robert Bellarmine, S.J., the new school’s patron saint, and is converted into the Jesuit faculty residence.
Mailands is adapted for classroom use, blessed and renamed McAuliffe Hall in honor of Bishop Maurice McAuliffe of the Hartford Archdiocese.
The Fairfield College Preparatory School opens its doors for the first day of classes. At this point, Fairfield is an all-male commuter high school.
Rev. James H. Dolan, S.J., formerly the Provincial, becomes the second Rector and President of the college.
Governor Raymond E. Baldwin signs a charter enabling the Fairfield University of St. Robert Bellarmine to grant degrees at the high school and university level.
